Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Welcome to the dog days of summer fellow progheads! The mercury has been climbing high in the thermometer and the sounds wafting from the prog garden have been just as hot...this week we venture back to America and visit with a band that has been steadily growing their prog music catalog.

Seconds Before Landing just released their latest album "Now That I Have Your Attention;" album number three for those keeping score at home. John Crispino is the creative mastermind hard at work behind (and in front of) the curtain and I have enjoyed the sounds emanating from Pittsburgh PA ever since I discovered this band in the prog garden a few years back. Now time to dig in and find out if the music is as striking as the album art...

The album opens in usual SBL fashion; that is to say you feel as though you are being escorted through a a crack in the time/space continuum...nothing seems to make sense and there is an apprehensive, almost nonsensical unease in the air. The voice over and audio clips are tied together perfectly with a eerie "Twilight Zone-ish" musical interlude that sucks you in like a riptide.

It may take three or four play-throughs before you realize the intro has bled into the first cut;
"4 A.M." The tension continues as though a serial killer is toying with your emotions...playing with you like a cat swatting a cornered mouse for what seems like an eternity (to the mouse) before finally dining on his prey. Seconds Before Landing is to the concept album what Penn & Teller are to magic; an alternate view through a different colored lens.

As I travel along the buffet line, the mood swings to and fro yet tends to stay on the darker side of the garden; nothing evil or portentous--but the sun never seems to burn through the haze. However; "Come Back to Me" is a cut that brings a jazz cafe feel to the music with top notes of Steely Dan wrapping themselves around a smooth scotch, going down nice and easy. A sax solo that conjures up David Sanborn images on the underside of my eyelids takes this piece home, melding beautifully with keyboards and bass.

Liner Notes...Seconds Before Landing is the creation of the aforementioned John Crispino out of Pittsburgh. Seconds Before Landing began in 2010 and "Now That I Have Your Attention" is the band's third album. Joining John in SBL is Eric Maldonado and Steve Schuffert on lead guitars, J.D. Garrison on bass, Rick Witkowski on rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar and mandolin, Jamie Peck on sax, flute, and piano, and Vanessa Campagna and Carrie Jackson performing the female vocals. Mr. Crispino is known for having an A-List of guest musicians on his albums and this one is no exception...John Palumbo plays ebow guitar on the cut "Moment In Time."

Seconds Before Landing is that band everyone talks about yet no one seems to know the players by name...much like Pink Floyd or Steely Dan in their heyday. Because SBL tends to paint with dark colors and bore deep into the crevices of your cranium, it is easy to think of the band as a living entity rather than being comprised of talented humans. The album is deceivingly smooth; you almost feel as though you are part of the story being told...the imagery is as vivid and striking as a Salvador Dahli painting...

For a new twist and something I find quite intriguing, Seconds Before Landing has started a podcast called Fly On The Wall Radio, a weekly (or so) production that will showcase all the music from Seconds Before Landing along with other bands and listener requested stuff...don't just sit there, join the party!

One more slice from the album that wanders a meandering path is called "In The Name Of." Here John chose to open with an (almost) upbeat intro...the sea lapping at the shore as birds sing to the beauty that is a new day. Of course in true SBL fashion the song wastes no time pulling the proverbial bootlegger's turn and heading into the thick undergrowth that borders the darker section of the prog garden. Seconds Before Landing uses a lot of colors to cover the canvas, but there is a drop of black added to each pastel first. A cloud of "silent" tension runs the length of this piece; you feel it in the spoken word vocals that leap towards you as well as the guitar that just hangs like the Sword of Damocles over the entire album. Top notes of early Pink Floyd and Genesis mingle with latter day Marillion and Scarlet INside to create a mood that, while hard to define, is most assuredly deep and brooding.

The clip below, "You're Giving Me A Headache," should give you a better dose of what to expect from SBL. An homage of sorts to the nonsensical, cynical, over-the-top vitriol and head-pounding insanity that has wrapped itself around the planet like a baked on truck bed liner...no one seems to know where it came from or why it's here, yet there seems to be no cure. The guitar punches you right behind the eye as the drums come up from below, carrying the piano across the top like a warning flare. Seconds Before Landing took all the craziness that is the new normal, stuffed it into a musical molotov cocktail, and hurled into the middle of the street. The ensuing chaos makes you step back and realize we are the cause of our own demise...very insightful. Listen a few times; dissect the entire piece...

Well fellow progheads, that brings another fortnight to a close. Seconds Before Landing found a section of the prog garden that needs little light or water and was able to bring forth a bountiful--albeit dark and foreboding--harvest. This is a band that, like a good single malt, is an acquired taste...and once acquired you are loathe to relinquish it.

John Crispino has created a band that takes prog to a different level. By incorporating the state of the world around him into his music he has made himself--and his band--an eyewitness to the carnage. Refreshing for me is the objective viewpoint he seems to take...the "I didn't light this dumpster fire but since you asked" approach is difficult to pull off. People tend to want a narrative and to be told how to think; Seconds Before Landing puts the onus on you the listener...

So the Closet Concert Arena leaves you in deep thought as the search for all things prog continues...until next week...

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

As always thanks for coming back to the Closet Concert Arena fellow progheads! So much music to review and seemingly so little time...Bent Knee was quite the prog experience, and as the search for all things prog continues to prove, the prog garden is comprised of extremely vast and varied talent and this week is no different...

Traveling north to Canada, I am checking in with a band that is a member of the Progressive Gears family of prog artists; Machines Dream. Having been previously been reviewed here in the Concert Closet, Machines Dream has recently released a new album entitled "Black Science." Exciting and a bit rewarding to see them continuing their journey through the prog garden.

The album is a concept of sorts, dealing with war through history and the mark it left on those who served their countries and railed against the death and destruction...and of course the sad truth that man seems unwilling and/or unable to learn from his past mistakes. Strong statements and powerful imagery are sure to abound, so let the review begin...

The album opens with a Big Brother-esque intro called "Armistice Day." The voice-over in conjunction with the control room sounds in the background lead one to believe the forthcoming experience will be a foreboding journey down into the darker regions of man's soul. As this song bleeds into the next cut, "Weimar," I pick up a tension that is both musically fascinating and emotionally draining...Machines Dream is cutting deep through many levels with this album. This song has top notes of Pink Floyd wafting like plumes of smoke with perhaps a hint of Genesis caught up in the aromatics. Machines Dream changes tempo and mood several times throughout, much like Dream Theater freewheelin' the mood elevator on "Scenes From A Memory."

Moving a bit farther down the buffet line, I discover the title cut. I always enjoy playing title cuts over and over as they tend to give more insight into what the artist/band is trying to convey with the entire album...or perhaps I just overthink things. Either way, this particular one digs its talons in deep and forces you to focus and listen. Opening with gentle keyboards, the song quickly bores through to the marrow and enters your bloodstream, moving through your entire being like blood pumping through stretched arteries. There is a tension riding across the top of the entire piece like a razor held close to the jugular by a desperate kidnapper...just stay calm...

Machines Dream seem to prefer surveying the thicker, denser section of the prog garden and this next serving is another example; "Heavy Water." There is a narrative running through this album which taps you on the prefontal cortex...almost subconsciously getting you to pay closer attention to what is being said/sung as much as the music it is wrapped in. The piano here isn't portentous or menacing, but rather a warning sign of the serious subject matter you are being immersed in. The drums hold everything together as the mood continues down a dark tunnel...

Liner Notes...Machines Dream is Craig West on lead vocals and bass, Rob Coleman on lead guitar, Brian Holmes on keyboards, Jake Rendell on all things acoustic and backing vocals, and Ken Coulter on drums. Hailing originally from Ontario Canada, the band is on Progressive Gears Records, which has quite a stable of young progressive talent. Machines Dream refer to themselves as atmospheric, cinematic prog, and while this album continues that theme--they are more than that. "Black Science" delivers on the prog front with an ornate sound you would expect from a band that moves through the artistic section of the prog garden. But they also deliver meaningful, hard-hitting lyrics that make you stop for a second.

Check out Machines Dream on their Facebook page Machines Dream FB and Twitter @MachinesDream. You can purchase this album and the rest of th Machines Dream catalog at their Bandcamp site Machines Dream BC as well as the Progressive Gears website Machines Dream PGR. By now you know my feelings in regard to buying the music and supporting the bands and artists here in the prog garden, so I will refrain from my usual rant...just please buy this music...

To that end I am not posting a video clip this week, but suffice to say "Black Science"--and all Machines Dream has pressed into vinyl and disc--is a sound you need to hear top appreciate. One last song for review...to get your prog appetite whet as it were..."Noise to Signal." Once again the opening draws from history to give you a glimpse of the future as drums and guitar suddenly wash over your ears like lava erupting from what was thought to be an idle volcano...no reason to panic, just pay close attention...

And with that we are ever closer to the pulse of prog. Machines Dream mixes a classic sound; parts Pink Floyd, Genesis, Marillion, and a touch of Gentle Giant carrying the portent of the world around us today. The beauty of the prog garden is the relevance of the music to its surroundings...Machines Dream captures that essence and drives the point home like an archer's arrow through the bulls-eye. Grab it and take all it has to offer...

Now, as the sand drops from the hourglass for the week, the Concert Closet continues the search for all things prog as the garden continues to offer a rich summer harvest...until next time...